Colombia down Peru in South American B Championship

A strong second round performance from Colombia saw Los Tucanes downing Peru in the South American B Championship this afternoon. The 41-14 win has seen Colombia set up a winner-takes-all final against Venezuela on Saturday.

A dominant opening half gave Los Tucanes a 31-07 lead. The first saw Colombia putting a stamp on the match with a penalty try after just five minutes. Peru also had to adjust with a man down as Gonzalo Mansilla was yellow carded.

Eleven minutes in and Colombia scored again. Left winger Arley Urrutia’s try was again converted by inside center José Diova. The center then landed a penalty to close out the opening quarter.

Backing up from his hat-trick against Ecuador, Gerson Ortiz scored Colombia’s third try. The 24th minute score was also converted by Diova.

The teams then traded tries in the final minutes of the opening half. Loose-head prop Jaider Femberty went over for Colombia before Los Tumis got on the board through Giorgio Crolle. Felipe Suarez added the extras.

A low-scoring second half saw one try per team. Suarez converted his own try in the 59th minute. It would be decreased in significance by Diova who landed a 61st minute penalty. Captain Sebastián Mejia then scored in the 71st minute. His try was also converted by Diova.

The result sets up a final round on Saturday. Colombia will face Venezuela in the final while Peru will battle it out with Ecuador to avoid the wooden spoon. The winner of Colombia vs Venezuela will advance to face Mexico in the next round of Rugby World Cup qualification. The winner of that fixture will play against Paraguay.

SCORERS
PERU
Try: Crolle, Suarez
Conversion: Suarez (2)
Yellow Card: Gonzalo Mansilla

COLOMBIA
Try: Penalty Try, Urrutia, Ortiz, Femberty, Sebastián Mejia
Conversion: Diova (5)
Penalty: Diova (2)

Peru
1 Gonzalo Mansilla, 2 Luis Tejeda, 3 Eduardo Díaz, 4 Carlos García, 5 Giorgio Crolle, 6 Carlos Lotomayor, 7 Diego Diaz, 8 Martín Borgioli, 9 Juan del Pino, 10 Daniel Cino (Capt.), 11 Felipe Suarez, 12 Esteban Salmon, 13 André Orquieto, 14 Diego Suarez, 15 Pedro Etchebarne

Replacements: 16 Gustavo Escanes, 17 Michael Aromato, 18 Diego Velarde, 19 Christian Onkolich, 20 Esteban Figueroa, 21 Sebastián del Ministro, 22 Mauricio Monier, 23 Girgis Morote

Head Coach: Javier Darminetti

Colombia
1 Jaider Femberty, 2 Manuel Correa, 3 Andrés Arango, 4 André Quintero, 5 Jhon Alvarez, 6 Gerson Ortiz, 7 Santiago Mejia, 8 Sebastián Mejia (capt.), 9 Pablo Valderrama, 10 Emmanuel Bedoya, 11 Arley Urrutia, 12 José Diova, 13 Juan Davila, 14 Camilo Cadavid, 15 Andrés Alvarez

Replacements: 16 Pablo Lasso, 17 Mauricio Espinaz, 18 Alejandro Vanegas, 19 Jorge Alvarez, 20 Felipe Barrera, 21 Oscar Lasso, 22 Maicol Machado, 23 Bryan Campiño

Head Coach: David Jaramillo